From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher.
What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room. Draw a map of the classroom and sketch a path showing (approximately) this movement.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement? How will use your proximity to provide feedback and manage student behavior?
Observation:
I watched Ms. Maillet in her Urban Ecology course. Ms. M's class was set up in columns of benches as she was testing in other classes; she normally keeps the class in groups. Ms. M spoke from the front of the room for a short while before assigning the students to group work. While Ms. M was talking and lecturing to start the class most of her students in the left column, center (up to the 2nd row) as well as a group in the right column that sat close to the front were sitting intently and paying attention. There were two girls in the very back of the center row not paying attention, sharing a small conversation while snacking on some chips. The two boys in front of them as well as a boy in the right column weren't really paying much attention and kept having a side conversation. Ms. M tried to redirect one of them in particular, but this only was a quick fix as he would quickly pick up where he left off. Once Ms. M left them with seat work to do things unraveled a bit further. The seat work was to be done in groups. Most of the groups ended up having conversations off topic. Some students began pulling out snacks, cell phones, and mp3 players. The one group that was most attentive (later found out they were honors students) ended up getting the work done and talked among themselves. Some students simply never transitioned into group work. Ms. M responded to this by eventually approaching the groups and seeing if they needed further help. Otherwise, as kids finished up or for those that decided not to do any work, they broke off into small conversations, further snacks, and further texting or gaming on their cell phones.
Reflection:
I view student engagement very highly in how I want to approach teaching. This was the first time in a high school observation and this made me fairly nervous as it conflicted with my opinion of how the classroom should be managed. At PHS, eating and using the cell phone isn't allowed in the classroom. The fact that Ms. M only made feeble attempts to stop her students from this (saying one needs to pick their battles sometimes) and letting it go for the most part was a bit concerning. I didn't like how the situation was controlled and wonder how it will effect once I take over the following semester. This was an elective course however and I most likely won't be placed in charge of it. I am hoping her other courses aren't like it. To encourage student engagement I plan to use Do Nows, try to incorporate hooks, have classroom expectations known as well as what happens when they aren't followed, as well as use techniques like proximity and monitoring to lower the likelihood of students from acting out. I like the idea of using proximity as it can be more subtle. The classroom seems to be set up in two distinct ways, either groups or columns. When in columns the classroom is difficult to walk around and utilize proximity. However, when in groups it can be easily navigated and used properly.
What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room. Draw a map of the classroom and sketch a path showing (approximately) this movement.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement? How will use your proximity to provide feedback and manage student behavior?
Observation:
I watched Ms. Maillet in her Urban Ecology course. Ms. M's class was set up in columns of benches as she was testing in other classes; she normally keeps the class in groups. Ms. M spoke from the front of the room for a short while before assigning the students to group work. While Ms. M was talking and lecturing to start the class most of her students in the left column, center (up to the 2nd row) as well as a group in the right column that sat close to the front were sitting intently and paying attention. There were two girls in the very back of the center row not paying attention, sharing a small conversation while snacking on some chips. The two boys in front of them as well as a boy in the right column weren't really paying much attention and kept having a side conversation. Ms. M tried to redirect one of them in particular, but this only was a quick fix as he would quickly pick up where he left off. Once Ms. M left them with seat work to do things unraveled a bit further. The seat work was to be done in groups. Most of the groups ended up having conversations off topic. Some students began pulling out snacks, cell phones, and mp3 players. The one group that was most attentive (later found out they were honors students) ended up getting the work done and talked among themselves. Some students simply never transitioned into group work. Ms. M responded to this by eventually approaching the groups and seeing if they needed further help. Otherwise, as kids finished up or for those that decided not to do any work, they broke off into small conversations, further snacks, and further texting or gaming on their cell phones.
Reflection:
I view student engagement very highly in how I want to approach teaching. This was the first time in a high school observation and this made me fairly nervous as it conflicted with my opinion of how the classroom should be managed. At PHS, eating and using the cell phone isn't allowed in the classroom. The fact that Ms. M only made feeble attempts to stop her students from this (saying one needs to pick their battles sometimes) and letting it go for the most part was a bit concerning. I didn't like how the situation was controlled and wonder how it will effect once I take over the following semester. This was an elective course however and I most likely won't be placed in charge of it. I am hoping her other courses aren't like it. To encourage student engagement I plan to use Do Nows, try to incorporate hooks, have classroom expectations known as well as what happens when they aren't followed, as well as use techniques like proximity and monitoring to lower the likelihood of students from acting out. I like the idea of using proximity as it can be more subtle. The classroom seems to be set up in two distinct ways, either groups or columns. When in columns the classroom is difficult to walk around and utilize proximity. However, when in groups it can be easily navigated and used properly.